My wife, Cindy, and I are relatively new to the trawler game. We have had our Californian LRC 34 for about 2 years now. We have two questions:

1. How often do you need to haul your boat out for new bottom paint? Our cleaning service indicates that the paint condition is "Fair;" however, they are saying that it is time for a haul out and bottom painting.

2. We recently noticed that about 1/4th of our exhaust outlets are subbmerged. Should we be worried about this? If so, what should we do?

We apprecaite the input from any and all veterans out there.

Best regards,
John and Cindy English
Vessel: Gloria Arlene (formerly Kiwi Magic)
San Diego, CA

I have my boat bottom painted one color for the first coat and another color for the second. I have my boat cleaned about once a year and when the diver tells me he sees more red than black I know it is time for new bottom paint.

As for the exhaust being submerged, mine is about half, when it gets lower its time to go through the boat and lighten it up. Not that being submerged is a problem, but my boat has a tendency to get too heavy and the exhaust and waterline are good indicators.

I can't be sure about San Diego, but here in FL, 2-3 years is pretty normal if you have a diver cleaning regularly. I'm having my bottom done now after only 15 months, but it sat without cleaning for that long.

On the exhaust, when did you notice this? Has it been that way for long? Loading the boat heavily will do that, as will water intrusion. The danger is that if your boat is sitting lower in the water, the upward incline that was designed into that system to prevent water from getting to the engine becomes compromised. Wakes and wave action on the stern are sometimes enough to push water through the muffler and into the engine. A simple exhaust flap is not enough to prevent this IF the water level is already over the edge as you are reporting. Water backing up into the engine is serious. Better check that.

How often do you need to haul your boat out for new bottom paint? Our cleaning service indicates that the paint condition is "Fair;" however, they are saying that it is time for a haul out and bottom painting.

The most you can reasonably expect to get out of any high quality anti fouling paint is in the 3-4 year range. Anti fouling paint is simply not formulated to last longer than that. You can dramatically shorten that lifespan by applying too little paint, by using a product that doesn't have the horsepower to combat the fouling conditions in your region or by employing improper in-water hull cleaning techniques.